Tag: business planning

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Should you be delegating more? 

The answer is almost certainly yes.

There are certain things that only you can do in your business but there is probably a lot of admin or other work that can be delegated to somebody ‘cheaper’ than you.

When coaching busy clients I recommend that they keep a timesheet for a couple of weeks. This can be on paper or using one of the free apps such as Toggl.

At the end of the fortnight look at all the work that isn’t profitable.

-If it is for a client should you be charging more or perhaps somebody else can do the work instead?

-If it isn’t customer work then is it the sort of thing that somebody else can do instead (next week I’ll talk about who you might delegate to)

-If it is work that you don’t enjoy then it might make sense to delegate it anyway. This is the main reason we encourage clients to delegate their bookkeeping to us as we can do it faster, and better, and we have people who actually enjoy the work.

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Still reinventing the wheel?

Today I’m borrowing a quote from Mark Twain

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of coloured glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

I love being an accountant and working with lots of different businesses within lots of different industries. This, along with running my own businesses (an Minerva Accountants and a speaking/coaching business) gives me a wealth of practical ideas for business improvements as well as all the books I read.

Where do you get your ideas from?

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Don’t reinvent the wheel

Over the years we have built up a collection of helpsheets and explanatory videos. This is because I am lazy (although I prefer to think of it as efficient) and hate doing the same thing again and again.

If a client asks a question that we think may be asked a second time then the team don’t just answer the question once but they, or I, write a helpsheet so that we have a library of resources to help instantly.

What do you do to save time?

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Tax Tip

Director’s responsibilities

Whilst it might feel good to be the director of your own company you have several responsibilities as directors under the Companies Act 2006:

  1. To act within their powers (in the articles of association etc)
  2. To promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole ie not benefitting one member above the company eg by allowing one director/shareholder to take out more dividends/loans that the company can afford
  3. To exercise independent judgement – you can take advice but must decide for yourself
  4. To exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence eg using a chartered accountant or professional bookkeeper if you don’t have those skills in house
  5. To avoid conflict of interest
  6. Not to accept benefits from third parties
  7. To declare interests in transactions
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How to buy yourself more time

Having taken over a small practice I have been able to see the time saved by good practice management software.

We use Accountancy Manager but any decent practice management software will offer similar services

  1. A simple spreadsheet upload of all client standing data and services so everything is in one place (the PA from the new practice kindly provided this in the form of multiple spreadsheets which we merged)
  2. Engagement letters generated based on the services provided
  3. Engagement letters and accounts signed online
  4. Clients can update any missing information and changes of address in their standing data
  5. Automatic requests for missing data eg proof of ID or a UTR
  6. Recurring tasks set up automatically for each service
  7. Adding our own internal deadlines for tasks eg 3 months for accounts and 2 weeks for VAT returns rather than the 9-10 months and 5 weeks for the statutory deadlines.
  8. Automatic records request emails generated from those tasks and deadlines (all templates can be modified to suit your personal style)
  9. Time recording as the new practice still uses hourly billing
  10. Marking a task as complete automatically sets up the next occurrence
  11. Automatic links to Companies House to keep deadlines etc updated
  12. Generating confirmation statement reminders and submitting from within the software (a small handling charge on top of the Companies House fee)
  13. Tracking emails between clients and team members so they don’t have to CC me on everything
  14. Central repository of all information which helps as all the team are part time and even I am juggling two businesses.

It hasn’t been perfect (I’ll share my learnings/improvements separately) but it has been relatively smooth.

This technology has freed me up to ‘meet and greet’ the new clients as tech is still no replacement for human relationships.

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Why it may be best to stay small

Small is beautiful. It’s also less hassle and much more agile.

As the sole director of my business I can hold my board meetings in the shower and, if I come up with a bright idea, I can often have it implemented by evening.

The downside of a small business is reduced cover for holidays and sickness. Especially if your business is just you. On the other hand even the best team will take up your time in managing their time and workload.

Before growing your business beyond you it is worth considering whether this will best suit your personal goals. Instead of taking on more clients and higher overheads you could look at taking on better clients and providing them with more profitable services. Before recruiting staff you could investigate software and other automation.

Bigger isn’t always best.

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More than one tool in your toolbox

When it comes to improving your business you need to have more than one tool in your toolbox.

Although we often start with getting the pricing right we also like to look at other things. My books give you some examples of these but they are broadly:

Efficiencies – implement systems, checklists, automation and delegation

People – get the right people in the right place, suitably trained and equipped, and all pulling in the right direction

Marketing – a baseline level of marketing going on at all times so that you have clients/work already lined up for quieter periods

What else do you do to improve your business?

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Do you know your break even point?

Do you know how many units (and the mix of units) that you need to sell in order to cover your costs and break even?

This is an important figure for every business.

Now you can work out how many units you need to sell to make a particular level of profit.

And finally, you can work out your marketing and sales plan to actually sell that number of units. (Okay, there’s a bit more to it than just working out the numbers but at least you know what you’re aiming for)

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How to work like an athlete

As an athletics coach for endurance events, I’m used to planning training loads that include elements of fast work, long slogs, technique work and recovery.

In your business life this would equate to sprinting for deadlines, putting in sustained effort for maintenance, improving your skills and automation, and resting.

Business owners always seem to forget the resting bit but, if it’s good enough for top athletes, it’s good enough for you too.

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How to get the most out of your team 

Personality profiling is often criticised as it is not an exact science. However, as long as you understand the limitations, it can be very helpful. 

We use DiSC profiling but there are other systems based around colours or you could use Myers-Briggs.  

This helps us to understand our preferred communication style and also how our colleagues and clients like to communicate. For instance, my brief bullet points are probably great for somebody who likes to get straight to the point but there are other personality types that would prefer something longer with more descriptions and examples. 

So here’s an example of how we use it in practice: 

In my previous practice we had an art gallery as a client. The owner was a business person who liked direct communication (like me). However many of their artists joined us and preferred a gentler style. I had to adapt my communications and use a more verbose style to get my message across. It is up to us to speak to clients in plain English and also in a way that they can understand. 

On the other hand we had another wonderful client who was even more direct than me which intimidated one of our junior staff. Fortunately I was able to explain that this was just the client’s usual style and not a criticism of the work and their professional relationship flourished from there. 

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